Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Candidates Forum for the runoff elections in Carrollton, the conversation will be about building a cohesive Carrollton.

PRESS RELEASE

The City of Carrollton has earned a reputation for its greatness and location, and now it is our duty to set ourselves as an exemplary town in social cohesion, where the God given diversity of each one of the 130,000 of us would function cohesively to build a safe, secure and welcoming Carrollton.

Four positions were up for elections at the council and on Saturday, May 14, 2014, Mr. Matthew Marchant was elected as Mayor with a clear majority and Mr. Terry Simmons was elected unopposed from Place 6. However, for place 2 and 4 no candidate received the required 50% votes leading to a runoff election on Saturday, June 18, 2011.

“Unlike all the previous candidate forums, this meeting will focus on building a cohesive Carrollton, indeed in the previous meetings, I had forwarded the same question but the candidates did not get a chance to respond due to time constraints.” said Mike Ghouse, President of America Together Foundation.

The candidates will be asked to share their approach on building a cohesive Carrollton, and how they will include and care for the well being of every resident. They will be further asked to give a one minute response to their take on issues such as: Civil Unions, Racial profiling, Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism and immigration reforms.

The early voting begins on June 6th leading to the Election Day on Saturday, June 18, 2011.

The candidates are invited to submit a write up on each issue up to 50 words and 250 words for how they are going to achieve the social cohesion, it will be printed in a small booklet to be handed out to the public and the media, and will be published at www.Carrolltondiary.com as well as sent out as a story to the media. This must be submitted before 10:00 PM on Monday June 6th to go to the printer.

America Together Foundation is formed in response to ACT America, as introduced by Sean Hannity on Fox TV and Hannity Radio Shows. The organization will focus on bringing Americans together with a series of educational programs to address the critical issues facing our nation in an open forum to find pluralistic solutions to restore the cohesiveness of our society and work towards building a safe and secure America.

Mike Ghouse is set out to go on a talk tour of 10 major cities in America this fall with a goal to open our hearts and minds towards fellow Americans. No American has to live in anxieties, discomfort or fear of the other.

Mike Ghouse is a frequent guest with Sean Hannity and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He can be reached at (214) 325-1916 and email MikeGhouse@aol.com and all of his work is listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Three disgusting topics for discussion, I don’t think the three of us would have a different take on the topic, except that Horowitz may use this platform to spew Anti-Islam rhetoric, hope to keep him from that and have him focus on the topic, which the right wingers are good at, jumping from topic to topic.

This is not acceptable to Muslims, and should not be acceptable to anyone. There is no such punishment prescribed in Quraan. It’s a practice that has come about from the middle ages. First we condemn this act of torture, then the act of stoning to death. Islam does not permit this; this is where Sharia law is abused, misused so show political muscle. On the other hand in the last ten years there have been three instances of stoning women to death, where as women are being murdered, abused and butchered all over the world whether religion is cited or not in every society. Perhaps in New York alone three women were brutally murdered by their spouses in one year.

The one saving grace is there are a lot more discussions, conferences and debates within Islam about these topics, it will have its cumulative effect within a few year.

“Hamza al-Khatib, a 13-year-old Syrian boy who disappeared following an anti-government protest in late April, appeared to have been brutally tortured before his death. Pictures have added fat to the fire in the ongoing Syrian revolt.”

Police brutality ‘at the heart’ of uprising Torture and violent death at the hands of Syria’s security serviceshave been widely documented, but what sets Hamza’s killing aside is his age, and the apparent willingness of the state to inflict brutality on children.

My friend has just got back from Syria and has taped horror filled instance of vicious murders by the Asad Regime. I urge Muslims around the world to vociferously condemn this.I hope this boy will change.

We should not only be outraged, but take action against this non-sense, who the hell is he to put women through this? He needs to provide security to men and women at the protest and take pride in fulfilling his duties in providing safety of the citizens instead of scrutinizing them.

Sean, this is not a good thing, where I have nothing but to condemn these ugly men masking in a Muslim label. More work for Muslims to do.

Monday, May 30, 2011

I have always enjoyed "Laughter the best medicine" at Readers Digest. Many thanks to my friends from across the world who share laughter, please share yours as well. It helps bring about a refreshing change in one's moods. I enjoy it and I hope you do too. Its amazing how many of us get even now and then. I have my share of humor, but this one is not mine. Next time, how to start fight with husband.

# # #

My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary.

She said, "I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds."

I bought her a bathroom scale.

And then the fight started.......

# # #

My wife was standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror.

She was not happy with what she saw and said to me,

"I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.'

I replied, "Your eyesight's damn near perfect."

And then the fight started........

# # #When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first, the shed, the boat, making beer.. Always something more important to me. Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point.

When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house. I was gone only a minute, and when I came out again I handed her a toothbrush. I said, "When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway."

The doctors say I will walk again, but I will always have a limp.

# # #

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Sunday, May 29, 2011

The following video documentary on Handwritten Urdu Newspaper in Chennai is simply mesmerizing! The only handwritten Newspaper in the world! And today is Memorial day, a day dedicated to honor the loved ones who are no more. I am dedicating this write up to Najma, my late wife on this Memorial Day.

I love writing Urdu and there is not a day that I don't scribble something or the other in Urdu. It was a good feeling to see this down-to-the-earth documentary. It was a pleasure to hear about the prevalent secular ethos in that news paper office.

In the early sixties we had three Urdu Newspapers in Bangalore; Pasban, Jumhoor, Azad and Salaar, there are many more now and I forgot the weekend news papers we had.

I hope you’d love this video:

http://gizmodo.com/5804614/this-is-the-last-handwritten-newspaper

Indeed, I am infatuated with Urdu, interestingly it was Urdu that had pulled me towards my late wife Najma at a Mushaira in Richardson after which she had joined me on my TV and Radio shows as a co-host and a year later we married. She was superb in her diction and choice of words, people loved to hear her out on the radio; I would pull the car over and listen to her whole program. I can never forget Farida Jalal yielding her portion of emceeing to Najma in a Bollywood show, Lata Mangeshkar was enthralled and said "Najmaji aap ki awaaz bahut hi sunder hai aur aap bahut achchi Urdu bolti hain".

I am dedicating this write up to Najma to honor her memories on this memorial day.

About the Pluralism and Secularism in India, which I am a product of, I found those attitudes across the board. Even last year when I was in Bangalore and addressed the Muslim leadership gathering, the tone was same; co-existence and pluralism drawn from Islam and Hinduism at works.

I am pleased to quote my mother on this topic that I wrote on Mother’s day, "She was a pluralist. My youngest brother Farooq runs a real estate business in Bangalore, and his manager had hung the picture of Lord Krishna in the office; he asked my Mother about it, she was blunt, "do you have your religious symbols hung on the wall? He said, yes, and she said, let him have his. Dear Mother, I salute you and I am going to brag about you." article at http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/05/mother-my-story-happy-mothers-day.html

I did not realize how much of Urdu runs through my veins, however I am yet to give expression to it. I was writing to my mother until she was alive and kept writing to my sister when she was in Rae Barielly and Secunderabad with my brother in Law who served in the Indian Army. However I used to write “Afsanay” short stories in Urdu and have written several Nazams and Ghazals in the past, and have written a few Rubayee’s lately on Pluralism and social cohesion, they sound just like my mentor Sahir Ludhianavi. My sister writes for Salaar in Urdu and she has agreed to translate my work in Urdu for publication in Bangalore, my home town.

When I became single, I was looking for someone who does not have barriers between her and another human being. Religion, Race or Ethnicity was never an issue to me, so I talked with so many from literally every possible background …and I was joyous to know so many women from Muslim, Hindu, Parsee, Jain, Christian, Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist and different backgrounds were equally open about religion, race or ethnicity. Most of them had described themselves as spiritual not religious.

Then I realized, it wont’ be fair to her that I want to go to the Mushaera and she will not enjoy it. Grudgingly, I was willing to miss seeing a woman in Saree or Shalwar Qamees, but Urdu was another thing. I see many of my friends in that boat here in Dallas and other cities, where the guys or the girls have to go-it-alone as their spouse does not speak Urdu. They cannot even enjoy listening to the songs without a timer for “my turn”.

Thank God, I finally met Yasmeen, who was everything I was looking in a life partner and darn, she spoke Urdu! God willing, we hope to host a few poetry sessions in Urdu and Hindi next year. I’d rather attend the Public Mushaera when politics is cut out. We attended one in Louisville and it was fabulous. I had written a poem on Social cohesion and it was a cross between Iqbal and Sahir… I abandoned it, as I do not want to sound like I have copied them. Temptations to write it out again comes to my mind repeatedly, but I will be knowingly manipulating it not to sound like Sahir, then it will not be genuine poetry. Well, I will have to write another one and stop reading Iqbal and Sahir.

Happy Urdu and Reminiscent Memorial day

# # #

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, futurist and a writer on the topics of Pluralism, Coexistence, interfaith, Islam, India and cohesive societies. He is committed to building cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His work is indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Note to Desis – you do not wish a Happy Memorial day; it is a day of remembrance and not rejoice.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

To have the power to affect a positive change in a given society one must be just. It is not justice when one gains at the wrongful expense of others. Many a Muslims have lost the gut in their voice because they have failed to stand up for others

Secondly, we cannot validate and propagate a false idea that the majority has a right to dictate the minorities to accept their status as subjects. Should the majority of Americans believe in the rhetoric that Muslims are terrorists and must be kicked out of the planes and prevent them from building a place of worship?

Fourth, many Muslims have been brainwashed like most others to believe in things fed by the politicians. Whatever their government says is embraced by them as unadulterated truth. President Reagan ....

Islam is large enough to absorb all the strands. Indeed, we can see the wisdom in the Prophet's predictions

Thomas Thomas Friedman beat me to it; this is the solution for the endless conflict in the Middle-East. I urge the right wing Jewish, Muslim and Christian organizations not to hate him for writing this piece, it is something they wanted to begin with but went about in the wrong way, their passion and support is crucial to be applied in the right path, the path of peace in the holy land of Moses, Solomon, Jesus and Muhammad. My prayers for Friedman for writing this piece and God willing I am writing one to supplement his efforts.

Friedman challenges the Palestinians in New York times, “To the Palestinians I would say: You believe the Israelis are stiffing you because they think they have you in box. If you resort to violence, they will brand you terrorists. And if you don’t resort to violence, the Israelis will just pocket the peace and quiet and build more settlements. Your dilemma is how to move Israel in a way that won’t blow up in your face or require total surrender.”

He urges the Israelis, “Israel today still has enormous leverage. It is vastly superior militarily and economically to the Palestinians, and it has the U.S. on its side. If Netanyahu actually put a credible, specific two-state peace map on the table — not just the same old vague promises about “painful compromises” — he could get the Americans and Europeans to toss in anything Israel wanted, including the newest weapons, NATO membership, maybe even European Union membership. It could be a security windfall for Israel.”

The silent peace loving Jewish, Muslim and Christian majorities to the conflict want peace, they want Jews to feel secure, they want Palestinians to live with the basic necessity of life; hope and Christians to be free from the conflicts between extremist in all groups. All of them want that region of land to remain a holy land, where peace shines and radiates to the world. Let peace and non-violence take root and win the support of every one of us in the world.

I'm thinking of going to Jerusalem and doing my share of the work in bringing together the people and taking a step forward. This has been my calling and perhaps yours too; would you consider joining the movement at least in terms of gathering momentum in the net world?

It's time for peace and time for us to come together, with justice for Palestinians (both Muslim and Christian) and security for Israelis, much of the world’s frustration will fade away.

Blessed are the peace makers. I feel that was on the Mount of the Beatitudes where Jesus delivered that sermon; I feel the words and its power and, although a Muslim, I feel blessed with the baptism in the river Jordan where Jesus, my mentor and prophet, was baptized. I went there [a few years ago] with the Middle East Peace Initiative (MEPI) of Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s ministry. Founded in 2003, the Middle East Peace

Initiative is based on Reverend Moon's vision that problems of the Middle East will ultimately be solved by religious leaders – the leaders of Christianity, Judaism and Islam working together, rather than political leadership alone. I urge Rev. Moon’s movement to give MEPI momentumnow.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies. He is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, interfaith, cohesive societies offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He work is logged in at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Everything that has a traceable beginning must also come to a traceable ending. In our life time, we witness births and deaths as a part of the immortality of life, and we are conditioned to think in terms of beginning and end to every thing within the scope of our thinking.

Everything that has a traceable beginning must also come to a traceable ending. In our life time, we witness births and deaths as a part of the immortality of life, and we are conditioned to think in terms of beginning and end to every thing within the scope of our thinking.

No matter what is out there in the universe, it has its own balance and its own trajectory.Where as no such balance is determined for humanity, we are in the open and have the free will to find our own balance.

Religions are designed to give that balance; when injustice is done to us, we may get enraged or melancholic and lose hope and balance – religion offers the wisdom to restore that balance through the device of forgiveness. It works within the frame work of every religious tradition to help the individual cope with the imbalance.

Giving hope is a big part of the religion, in areas where one loses hope, the restoration comes with the belief that there is a life here after where the evil will be punished and or the process of reincarnation will serve justice to those that are evil and reward those who have done well. Again, we are conditioned with the pleasure principle.

On a larger scale religions have offered similar hopes. The calamities like the Tsunamis, the tornadoes in Missouri or the Hurricane Katrina are explained away as “God only knows” and some find it convenient to blame human behavior such as the events of Sodomites to the victims of Katrina or Haiti. Very soon we will be hearing some pastor blame human behavior for the Missouri tragedy and beef up the claim for end times.

When hopelessness, lawlessness, corruption and distrustful behavior become common place, people seek an answer and Imagineering end times gives them the hope and a sense of relief that ultimately everything will be alright.

Jews, Christians and Muslims are expecting Messiah the Jesus to come back and restore peace and tranquility on the earth; thus the balance, it will end our suffering as he will lead us all into a new realm. The Hindus on the other hand believe that Lord Krishna will reappear to restore the righteousness back on the earth, and every religions tradition has an answer to the mass inexplicable suffering of humanity through the prism of end times.

There is a full blown discipline called eschatology that predicts the end times. I personally don’t believe that any one can predict the end times, it is a metaphor to bring an end to human suffering or giving it new beginning. However, in the oral traditions of Prophet Muhammad it nears when human suffering increases, when injustice becomes the norm of the day. This is a behavior modification tool designed by the religions consciously to bring about a change. I hope each one of us had a chance to think about it and clean our slate and start the life afresh with no-ill will, malice, anger and hate and I hope every one started forgiving others and requested for forgiveness to have a new beginning. The Jain tradition sums this act of cleaning the slate in a beautiful phrase called Michami Dukadam.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies. He is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, interfaith, cohesive societies offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He work is logged in at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

I was with Yasmeen this last weekend in Louisville and together we went to see her brother and sister's families in Atlanta. It is always good to be with familiy! Yasmeen drove over 13 hours and I drove over 30 hours in the last five days a total 2600 miles.

GHOUSE ON FOX NEWS, MY 25TH APPEARANCE WITH HANNITY
I was on Hannity Radio and Fox TV show last week about Obama's speech on Middle East. It is one of my best shows on TV and Radio as well. I believe Obama’s speech is historic, to Bridgette and Sean also historic in negative sense. I was on Radio with Israeli Ambassadorhttp://www.hannity.com/show/2011/05/19

GHOUSE AND ISRAELI AMBASSDOR GOLD SQUAR OFF

From Hannity Site, “Sean was joined by writer and speaker Mike Ghouse to discuss the comments made by Obama about Israel. Obama told our closest ally, Israel, that they have to give up and go back to their 1967 borders - essentially forcing them to negotiate with a terrorist organization that wants their destruction. Ghouse explained to Sean that he believes this terrorist threat is going to change and become friends and cooperate with Israel. "What if you're wrong?" Sean asked Ghouse directly. "If you're wrong, Israel is destroyed." Ghouse was adamant that he was right. "I am not wrong. I have not been wrong on many issues. Dore Gold, an Israeli statesman who has served in various diplomatic positions under several Israeli governments, called in as well and debated with Ghouse. You can listen to the entire debate by clicking here. http://www.hannity.com/videos/?uri=channels%2F400391%2F1341352+ “

COHESIVE AMERICA TALK TOUR
I am also planning on a tour of American cities to talk about building a cohesive America; the address will be to the Republicans and Democrats in each city. We all can co-exist without selling hate and divisive politics if we cut the fear mongering out of our speeches. My party, the Republican Party is gone to pits; none of the leadership at this time represents the party's original idea of less government, balancing the budget and the pledge and commitment to one nation. I am sure there silent majority of Republicans need a voice and I will speak up. http://americatogetherfoundation.blogspot.com/2011/05/mike-ghouse-speaks-on-buidling-cohesive.html

Mike Ghouse committed to present pluralistic solutions on issues of the day, he is a speaker, thinker and a writer and his work is listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

In your name we want to create a cohesive and peaceful Carrollton with care kindness and dignity to every one of the 130,000 residents of this beautiful City.

Dear God,

Help us appreciate the prosperity and progress brought to us by our former Mayor, Ron Branson and help us welcome our Mayor-Elect Matthew Marchant and Our re-elected council person Terry Simmons and the incumbent council persons.

Dear God,

Guide our council members to treat,

Respect and honor every resident with their heart and soul.

Let goodwill prevail towards fellow Americans.

Guide our Mayor and the council to serve us with integrity and honesty;
Guide us to serve our communities with the spirit of volunteerism;
Guide us to do the right thing every moment of our life;
Guide us to open our hearts and minds toward our fellow beings;
Guide us to shed the arrogance in us, and enrich us with humilityGuide us to become conflict mitigaters and goodwill nurturers.

Dear God,
Protect our men and women in uniforms committed to our safety and well being.

Help us learn to respect the uniqueness you have blessed to each one of the 130,000 of us in Carrollton,

And help us learn to respect everywhich way one adores you and worships you.

Mike Ghouse, President of America Together foundation is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day, and is available to speak at your place of worship, work or in seminars and conferences. He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace.

The Foundation for Pluralism champions the idea of co-existence by respecting and accepting the otherness of other; and World Muslim Congress is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam. His work is reflected in 4 website's and 27 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

We read a whole lot of material from the right wingers, though they have an aggressive presence in the Mediascape, they do not represent the majority. The American Public does not subscribe to the view of Bush, Romney, Palin and their likes and neither the Israeli public subscribes to the views of Netanyahu or the AIPAC.

It’s in our interest to hear the Jewish public and intellectuals to shape or re-form our understanding on the issues. Attacks on Obama are disingenuous, his policy will get the Jews what they have been seeking for eternity; Security.

When Security for Israelis and justice for Palestinians is the goal, it will succeed and becomes sustainable. Obama’s vision is opposed by short term macho minds powered by a false sense of power. Of all the People on the earth, Jews have been the victims of power, no one will annihilate them or any part of humanity by sheer military might, the Ferdinand’s could not do it, the Romans could not do it and the Arabs will not do it, and likewise, the Israeli military or lobbying power will not bulldoze the aspirations of the people of the Palestine.

Every article David Horowitz, Robert Spencer or suckers like them write, invariably they ask for money. It is money making racket for them, frighten the Jews and cash it in on their fears. I wonder if they really care for Israel, as none of their suggestions bring peace but aggravate the situation, if we listen to them it will be another 60 years to find solutions. Peace has no benefit for them. While the suckers enrich themselves seeking funds the public at large suffers. We need to stop this or at least be aware of the views of the moderate majority of Jews who seek Justice.

This blog is to share another point of view that exists out there, we may disagree, but bulldozing one view is not only undemocratic but most importantly, it’s incomplete and is unable to sustain.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Every system was designed with the intent of serving justice and abusers of every system find loopholes to beat the system.

Four witnesses were required to nail the rapists, it was to prevent false accusations against innocent. If it was a conspiracy to nail some one and the witnesses were cooked up, they will face severe punishment if they were found lying.

Raped women have endured painful humiliation in every society including ours. Due to humiliation even in our own Dallas women do not report rape to prevent mental torture thru drilling in the court, sort of four witnesses humiliation.

Men have made the laws in the past, and it's a shame that men and even women blame the girl for going to the bar and wearing revealing clothes, shamelessly they say she asked for it. All societies need to catch up with justice and fairness. We need to punish the wrong doers no matter who they are and must be just.

Today the DNA test serve as unmistakable witness with that justice must be served and women. There is no need for women to endure humiliation in Muslim societies with four witnesses or American system to re-live the violation of rape in the court again

Reference: comment, "if this sexual assault happened in a Muslim country, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, French Dignitary, would have walked free for want of 4 witnesses. But not in America!

Mike Ghouse
Presenting pluralistic solutions on issues of the day
www.MikeGhouse.net

Talking with Beck, Hannity and OReilly does not produce peace for the people of Israel, it will aggravate it, but ensures them the short sighted audience numbers and enhanced ratings, that is really their bottom line. People of Israel and Palestine want peace, these guys are the hindrance.

The bottom line for the lobbies, and the right wing Christians and Jews is "sucking" money from the frightened ones and NOT the security of Israel, continuance of conflict ensure them their rewards and they have done it for over 50 years and it it in their interest to blame and accuse others instead of finding solutions.

The bull headed rightwingers lack sheer common sense, they expect to have peace in Israel without talking to the parties in conflict. If you want to have peace with the "enemies" then you talk with them.

If the same guys focus on mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill, they can achieve peace, they are passionate people with passion misapplied.

Mike Ghouse committed to building cohesive societies and presents pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Friday, May 20, 2011

My appearance on Hannity show and support for Obama's proposal last night has produced a few pieces of hate mail from the rightwing Christians, Hindus, Jews and Muslims alike and a full blown article on me.

The Israelis and the Palestinians want peace but the right wingers among them and the US have been a hindrance.

These guys want the conflicts to continue so they can cash in on it. If there is peace, the lobbies lose donations and many a organizations will go out of hate business. Fox will not have the material anymore.

I pray that these men and women put in their time and energy in creating peace and join Obama, let their passion be put in for good purpose, so the people of Israel can hope for a secure life and Palestinians can live with hopes.

Obama should stick out, when they have peace we can save $5 billion a year in aid and take care of our own here in America. We pay them and we have a right to ask them to do the right thing and make peace, this is time.

The battle between science and religion is a product of the insecurity stamped in to men to view anything different as a threat to their existence and to the resources that surround them. There is a built-in mechanism that propels them to prove, talk, fight and act superior to hide their insecurities, and tempts them to enforce their views on others. Thank God our American system is relatively immune to such invasions.

Science is not an alien object; nor is its goal to falsify religion it's rather a human desire to understand the inexplicable.

Faith in the invisible gives a majority of us comfort that the causer of the universe has created a system that works and we don't need to pull our hair for that. The problem is not with science or religion. The insecurity among us drives the wedge. Finding the truth is our own responsibility and religion is about being truthful.

For a long time literalism was confined to the conservatives among religion. "What they see is what it was," was their ethos. That contagious virus has now hit scientists as well . They are as irrational with their fanaticism as the religious literalists.

About two years ago I joined atheist groups to invite them to be a part of the Unity Day to complete representing every American in the event. I was kicked out of it for believing in God. Such is the literalism in every group be it scientific, religious, spiritual or rational.

We are yet to find a logical scientific reason why we fall in love, why we long for the one when we can have the other, why do we take our shirt off for a friend, why the "noise" of music is mellifluous, why tears roll down when tragedy befalls humanity and why do we risk our own lives to save the other? The scientific observations may not find the causal relationships in affairs of love or belief in God, but may help in understanding Hitlers, Bin Ladens and their likes to mitigate such occurrences.

Ward has indeed made the other point, that the emphasis on empiricism has not led to a new literalism but the rising freedom in our societies has brought the literalists among scientists out of the closets just as acceptance of atheism has graduated over the last two decades.

Literalism is part of the equation in everything we do; science is not an exception, we have to live with all dimensions of life; left to right and moderates. If we can learn to respect the otherness of other and accept the God given (or genetic if that suits you) uniqueness of each one of us then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

Monday, May 16, 2011

NOTE: Humor is the only item in my diary not written by me, it is a compilation.
OUTSOURCING POPULARITY
No wonder outsourcing is so popular in India.A Husband and his wife agreed that anytime they want to have sex, they will call it a ‘PHONE CALL’ so that the kids will not decode..

One day, the husband sent his son to tell his mother that, "Daddy wants to make a phone call.

Mother replies: Tell your Dad that the Network is down today.

Dad to his son, "Go tell your mother that if there is no Network at home, I will go to a Public Phone”.

Mother tells her son to go and tell his dad, "if he dare go to a Public Phone, she will open a Call Center at home!”# #A congregation in suburban Boston honors its Minister for 25 years of service by sending him to Hawaii for a week, all expenses paid. When he walks into his hotel room, he finds a beautiful nude woman lying on the bed. She greets the Minister with, "Hi Pastor, I'm a little something extra that the President of the Temple arranged for you."

The Minister is incensed. He picks up the phone, calls the President of the Temple and shouts,"GreenJohn what were you thinking? Where is your respect? I am the moral leader of our religious community! I am very angry with you and you have not heard the end of this."

Hearing this, the naked woman gets up and starts to get dressed.

The Minister turns to her and asks, "Where are you going? I'm not angry with YOU....!!!"

Please note that I have stripped the religiosity of the minister, it could be any one from any religion.I will be adding a few more during the day and please share yours.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Last Sunday, I gave a talk about Islam followed by two hours of intense questions and answers about Quraan, Islam, Sharia and the Phobias at UnitedMethodistChurch in Dallas.

Monthly participation at Faith Club of Richardson discussing fate and free will. At the Ahmadiyya Mosque in Allen shared comments about loyalty and patriotism in an interfaith conference. I am waiting for notes from Hindu and Jewish speakers to write a summary of the productive event. The event prompted me to write a full blown article on the division among Muslims and how to heal it, God willing it will be published in Washington Times or Huffington post.

The National Prayer day at the PlanoCity council chambers was a delight, it was good see Jan organizing it. She said she was inspired by the work shoos I conducted on Pluralism which had helped her shape organizing the National prayer event with different religions.

The Metrocrest Interfaith group met at the Metrocrest human services for lunch, they are amazing in the kind of services they are providing the the citizens of Carrollton, Coppell and Farmers Branch.

It was a joy to be part of the Native American Elders get together, Ponca, Apache, Cherokee, Kiowa and other nations participated in the event. It was bliss... I hope to write a note and post the pictures.

Rev. Petra Weldes, Rev. Eric Folkerth and I were on the Radio to talk about the moral, legal and ethical dilemma with the end of Bin Laden.

Sean Hannity’s nationally syndicated Radio show place me and Andrew McCarthy to debate about AlQaeda, it was a good productive talk on the show.

Campaigned for my candidates in Carrollton Matthew Marchant, Bonnie Kaplan and Bob Garza, even last night I got commitment from 25 people to go vote today.

Contemporary Chorale held their annual musical afternoon at EisemannCenter in Richardson, attended to honor my friend Tricia Harris, what a fabulous program and I hope to have their group sing the harmony song at Unity Day.

Music and Harmony presentation by Toltec Philosophy at the UnityChurch that my friend Coke Buchanan had arranged was out of the world. The music transported me into a different world… they just played about five instruments, drum, piano, saxophone, flute and the native horn… I like the fast beat at the end. Literally every one had gone into a different world.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Congratulations to Matthew Marchant for winning the Mayoral election. We are looking forward for his leadership, while appreciating the work done by our former mayor Ron Branson.
Carrollton election results

I believe there will be run off elections as none of the candiates in place 2 and 4 has secured over 50%

Published: Saturday, May 14, 2011 11:14 PM CDTThe election results are in for the city of Carrollton. The city will see two new members on the city council and a new mayor. As for the school board, both incumbents have retained their seats.

The city will have a new leader of the city as Matthew Marchant beat out Ron Branson to become the new mayor of Carrollton. Marchant won with 64.99 percent of the vote.

There were three places available for election on the city council along with the mayoral seat. Places available on the city council were Places 2, 4 and 6. Place 6 will be retained by incumbent Terry Simons, who ran unopposed.

In Place 2, three people were looking to win the race. The candidates were Anthony Wilder, Bonnie Kaplan and Pravin Desai. Kaplan will join the board by winning a close race with 37.07 percent of the vote.

Place 4 had four candidates looking to hold the position. Candidates included Cathy Henesey, Tino Patel, Bob Garza and Terry Wright. The winning candidate was Garza, who won with 37.3 percent of the votes.

There were two seats up for election on the school board this year: Places 1 and 2. Both incumbents will retain their seats. In Place 1, incumbent James Goode beat newcomer Randy Schackmann by winning 59.05 percent of the vote. In Place 2, incumbent Nancy Cline beat David Yarbrough with 58.89 percent of the vote.

Additional information on the winners will be provided in this week’s edition of the Carrollton Leader.

Its not too late to exercise your responsibility to share about your city candidates with your friends. I am doing it for my City and hope you can do it for your City. Voting a candidate is a personal decision and no matter who your choice is, please cast your ballot on Saturday, May 14th.

We care deeply about our City and want to elect candidates who can attend to the most critical needs of our times; we are blessed to have so many good candidates to serve our city.

One of the important aspects of a city is how well it functions in bringing the people together, where all of us with our differences contribute to the well being, safety and security of our city.

Please check your City website and participate in your Municipal, School and county elections.

Carrollton is my City and based on the criteria of building a safe and cohesive Carrollton, I am pleased to present the following candidates, who have the experience and a track record for you to consider.

I am running for City Council, Place 2. I know about budgets and economic development from having served before on the Carrollton City Council. This time, if I am fortunate enough to be elected, my emphasis will be on building community, real community.

Let me tell you two stories to illustrate. Back in the year 2000, I was serving on city council and was running for mayor. In the middle of the campaign, on Easter Sunday which was also Passover, my very large double white front doors were spray painted with a huge black swastika. My husband is a Jew, and in a Jewish household there is not a symbol that is more disgusting. We were shocked and horrified, as were many in our community. This cruel event hurt us for a very long time, for it caused us to wonder who would do something so terrible to us. Through this event, I learned what it felt like to be an outsider, ostrasized for no reason except religion and heritage.

I always had a heart and a soul for community and diversity. This event only strengthened it.

In 2009, the A.W. Perry Museum Society decided to make a quilt to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the rebuilt A.W. Perry home. I was named project leader for a fundraising event. We decided to sell squares and strips that people would purchase and sign. The signed squares and strips would be incorporated into the design of the quilt. I realized that Carrollton today looked very different than the Carrollton of 1909. One of the most obvious differences was in the demographics. Today Carrollton is a very diverse city, ethnically, religiously and socially.

I decided to seek out those who would represent the many kinds of diversity. Therefore, we reached out to everyone. No one was excluded. People who participated in the project ranged from in ages from eight to ninety-one. Many different races were included in the quilt. Some people signed because of their occupations, such as firefighters and boy scouts, others signed because of their countries of origin, such as Lebanon, Pakistan, India, Mexico, China, Vietnam and Egypt. There were patches for various churches, including Christians, Baptists, Hindu, Orthodox Armenians, Jewish and Muslims. Descendants of the original settlers of Carrollton also signed the quilt.

The signed squares and strips were sent to a quilter with no instructions on how to place them. She did not know the participants and so randomly placed the patches throughout the design. The finished quilt became of tapestry of Carrollton’s diversity and community. It represents an ideal to which we can all aspire, with all the differences stitched into one beautiful whole

Bob Garza said...

My name is Bob Garza candidate for Carrollton City Council Place 4. My wife Emily and I have lived in Carrollton for 22 years. We have 2 grown children and 4 grandchildren.

I served in the US Air Force and I am a Viet Nam Veteran, graduated from The University of North Texas with a BBA degree using the G. I. Bill.

I was appointed by City Council to the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) Committee and have served for about 3 years. This past year I was also appointed to the city Charter Review Committee.

I am Chairman of the Senior Adult Services board an organization that serves seniors ages 60 and over with meals, transportation, home repairs and Medicare and Medicaid filing assistance. I also serve on the Dallas Telco Federal Credit Union Board.

I have been involved in the community for over 10 years having served on numerous boards of chambers and non-profit organizations. These include Bea's Kids, which provides after school tutoring for minority kids and served on both the Metrocrest and Farmers Branch chambers. Several years ago I help sponsor a trip to Austin for a group of CFB-ISD high school students and coordinated a meeting with several legislators.

I served on the Trinity Medical Center hospital board and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Brookhaven Country Club.

I recently retired with 35 years of business experience in Finance, Auditing, Technology, International and Governmental Relations.

My Governmental Relations job allowed me the opportunity to work with all levels of government elected officials and staff. I am familiar with issues cities are facing today and feel I can be an effective contributor.

One of several campaign goals is to represent all Carrollton residents fairly and equally. I would like to help resurrect the Diversity Committee once in place a few years ago. Carrollton is a great place to live and raise a family and includes a variety of different cultures I think we can embrace and celebrate together.

---Mike Ghouse is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. He is a thinker, writer, speaker, optimist and an activist of Pluralism, Interfaith, Co-existence, Peace, Islam and India. He His work is reflected at three websites and 22 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

INTRODUCTION

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions to media and to the public on important and complex issues of the day and is available to speak in a variety of settings such as schools, seminars, conferences, and places of worship, or the work place.

Mike is a frequent guest on Fox News, (The Hannity Show), and has been interviewed on nationally syndicated Radio shows along with Dallas TV, Print and Radio networks and occasional interviews on NPR. He is a member of the Texas Faith panel of Dallas Morning News and writes on issues facing the nation every week. He has spoken at international forums including the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions, in Melbourne, Australia, Middle East Peace Initiative, in Jerusalem, the International Leadership conference, in Hawaii, and in Washington

The Foundation for Pluralism champions the idea of co-existence by respecting and accepting the otherness of those different from ourselves. The World Muslim Congress is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam. Heavily involved in both, Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and has produced outstanding public events to bring Americans together of different religions, ethnicities and races on common grounds of building a safe and secure America.

He is a speaker, thinker, collaborator and a writer on the subjects of Pluralism, the interfaith movement, cohesive societies, Islam, India, hope and world peace. Over 1000 articles of Mike’s have been published worldwide and two books are poised to be released this summer. His work is reflected in 4 websites and 27 Blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/
C
oncerned by the divisiveness, he saw the need to bring Americans together and founded America Together Foundation committed to building a cohesive America, indeed it is in response to ACT America which is bent on pitching one American against the other. We will be holding series of educational programs, conferences and workshops to address the issues that divide us such as Civil Right, GLBT, Quraan, Abortion, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Racial Profiling and Stereotyping.

The Annual Unity Day USA is in its 7th year now, it is a purposeful event to bring Americans together, on this Unity Day, we the people of the United States of America of every faith, race, ethnicity, culture and background will gather to express our commitment to co-existence, unity, prosperity and wellbeing of our nation.

Thanksgiving Celebration is in its 15th year showcasing cultural diversity.

The 5th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides is to learn and to acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things we have inflicted upon each other and commit to avert such tragedies. Through this event non-Jewish people have consciously learned about Holocaust for the first time, it was also for the first time that people of 14 faiths came together to join in to commemorate the Holocaust that commemorated within the Jewish Community for years. They are not alone anymore in their anguish, we are all in it together with them, and it is a Muslim initiative to effect a positive change.

The programs, seminars and workshops conducted by the Foundation for Pluralism have become a part of the America Together Foundation. While the Foundation for Pluralism continues championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other, the commitment to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress continues.

Mike is a speaker, thinker, collaborator and a writer on the subjects of Pluralism, the Interfaith Movement, Cohesive Societies, Islam, India, Hope and World Peace. Over 1000 of his articles have been published worldwide and two books are poised to be released this summer. His work is reflected in 4 websites and 27 Blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net

To engage Mike in a dialogue, conference or a talk, write to Ghousespeaks@gmail.com and email dedicated for this purpose or you can call him on a short notice at 214.325.1916